The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 8, 2024

When a film franchise posts box office returns of around three billion dollars, it's not hard to imagine some studio bean counter desperately asking the series' creator(s), "Hey, where's the next one?" In that regard, the rather involved making of featurette (running over two and a half hours) included on this disc as a supplement offers co-producer Nina Jacobsen and co-producer and director Francis Lawrence insisting that source novel author Suzanne Collins would never write anything just to make a quick buck, and instead both Jacobsen and Lawrence were kind of surprised when they heard from Collins about an unexpected prequel Collins let them know about shortly before it was getting ready to be published. Now, some jaded curmudgeons (ahem) may take those pronouncements with a grain and/or pillar of salt, but the fact is as both Jacobsen and Lawrence state, Collins actually did have some salient things to "say" about a society that seems to require a fascistic presence in order to survive, something that may strike some as applicable to "real life" in this day and age. Whether or not Collins' theses were artfully translated to screen form is really the issue, though, and my hunch is fans of The Hunger Games will probably be split fairly evenly between those who feel the film is rather interesting, especially since it focuses on an ultimate villain, while others may be asking why there's no empowered heroine quite as capable as Katniss Everdeen to help propel the story.

There's no "arena" for "games" as the film opens, but a desolate landscape littered with corpses may still evoke memories of the first four Hunger Games films, albeit in this case the dead seem to be adults, as two very young children attempt to make their way through the maelstrom. These turn out to be the tot versions of Coriolanus Snow (Dexter Sol Ansell in this sequence, then Tom Blyth for the bulk of the film) and his cousin Tigris (Rosa Gotzler and then Hunter Schafer). The two get back home where Coriolanus is told his father has been killed in the war between the Capitol and the Districts. The story then segues forward about a decade or so to find Coriolanus as a young man about to graduate and hoping to be the recipient of the Plinth Prize, a cash award given to that year's best student, which Coriolanus inarguably is. Unfortunately, the ceremony where Coriolanus expects to be feted is instead turned over to games creator Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), an evidently drug addled man who announces that the Plinth Prize requires one more hurdle that the eventual winner must overcome: with the tenth annual Hunger Games on tap, the finalists are assigned to "mentor" various tributes, with the mentors' success in that activity determining who will win the prize.

That conceit then introduces this film's "version" of Katniss, another female tribute from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). Lucy doesn't have a bow and arrow like Katniss, and in fact if she did have a bow, it might be the kind used to play a fiddle, since she is for all intents and purposes a country music singer (and if that doesn't raise some eyebrows in Hunger Games fans, nothing probably will). Coriolanus is assigned to mentor Lucy, all within the context of head gamemaker Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis, looking like something out of a horror movie) desiring the Games to be more of a "must see television" event. That wish is actually aided and abetted by Coriolanus, who offers some "marketing" tips that impress Gaul.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes tells a wending tale that kind of interestingly utilizes the actual games less than might be expected, which may redound to both the benefit and detriment of this film. The emphasis on a focal character's slow but steady journey to "the dark side" gives this latest installment an unusually visceral energy that even the obviously troubling aspect of kids killing kids may not have. But the adrenaline rush some of the game material provides the film probably only points out how listless a lot of the rest of the narrative can seem, at least by comparison. That said, when the film delivers on some of its ambitions, it does so rather well, though many of the most involving moments are almost sidebars, as in a great scene with Coriolanus, his "study hall partner" and Volumnia, where Volumnia calls the partner's bluff on whose "brilliant" ideas for the games are whose.

As bizarre as it may sound, some of the musical aspects involving Lucy are also surprisingly effective, and a whole quasi-Appalachian element down to and including quasi-snake handling gives this film a rather peculiar but still distinctive element. That said, it might be jokingly stated that parts of the story almost seemed like Lucy is participating in Panem Idol rather than a broadcast hunger games. Arguably even more than in the original quadrilogy, perhaps because this features the games in a nascent form, the whole "marketing" aspect meant to attract record ratings is quite trenchant throughout. The production design is also one of the film's chief assets, offering a fascinating look at a society rebuilding itself after a calamitous conflict, and that general excellence surrounds some appealing performances from the large cast, especially an impressive Blyth and Zegler, but also the completely gonzo Davis and Jason Schwartzman as the host of the games broadcast. At over two and half hours, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is probably too long by a goodly amount, and while Coriolanus' tragic arc is documented rather well, there are still ambiguities left that one assumes will be answered in forthcoming installments. That is, once Suzanne Collins decides she has even more to say.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured at source resolutions of over 4K with Arri Alexas and presumably with a 4K DI (the IMDb has no information as of the writing of this review, but there are some other online data aggregators stating it had a 4K DI), this is a great looking transfer almost all of the time, though the film's kind of drab, dowdy ambience means those looking for "wow" palette offerings may be a bit disappointed. That said, there are incredibly vivid pops of color offered at times, which due to their relative scarcity may make them even more noticeable (even "little" things like Volumnia's mismatched eyes come to mind). Fine detail is typically excellent on practical elements like props and costumes. Some of the CGI, notably a big explosion relatively early in the film, may suffer a bit in the sharpness department (probably even more so in Lionsgate's 4K UHD version), but are generally quite effectively rendered as well. There are a couple of low light scenes that look a bit murky and where fine detail can ebb just slightly, but those are counterbalanced by any number of more brightly lit or even somewhat dimly lit moments where detail levels remain consistently impressive.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Hunger Games: The ballad of Songbirds & Snakes features a very consistently immersive Dolby Atmos track. From the opening moments of a wartorn urban environment to some of the late third act sylvan material featuring Coriolanus and Lucy, all of the surround channels are frequently abuzz with ambient environmental effects. Some of Lucy's "adventures" to stay alive in the games leads her into echo laden chambers where there is some really fun discrete channelization as her competitors seek her out and sudden startle effects can intrude directionally. The Atmos speakers get a workout, expectedly in some overhead material like when a hovercraft picks up Volumnia's huge cylinder of snakes, but also in a calamitous explosion fairly early on in the proceedings and with regard to any number of combat moments throughout the story. The sound design is beautifully layered, incorporating both Michael Kamen's score and Lucy's own "performances". Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Producer / Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson


• Predator or Prey: Making The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (HD; 2:30:43) is a really in depth eight part documentary that covers things like production design, casting and post production aspects.


• The Hanging Tree: Song by Rachel Zegler (HD; 2:26) is in essence an audio supplement (presented in Dolby Digital 2.0) playing to the film's logo.


• A Letter to the Fans (HD) is a set of text frames featuring a letter from Suzanne Collins.

Lionsgate sent their 4K UHD release for purposes of this review, but it looks like their standalone 1080 release includes a DVD and digital copy, with packaging featuring slipcover.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes probably ends up expending its narrative energy long before its two and a half hour running time has expired, and that may be the biggest qualm even fans of the franchise will have with the film. It still has some interesting things to say about "fascistic evolution" (if that's an appropriate descriptor) and even things like mass marketing tragedy in the service of attracting a viewing public. Performances are generally quite involving, and the film's production design is outstanding. Technical merits are solid, and the supplements also very appealing. While I'm sure even diehard fans of the franchise may have some quibbles with this prequel, they will probably find enough here to warrant checking this out, and the general technical excellence of the presentation should help in that regard. Recommended.